Perception
by akamai
Summary: If she wasn't injured she would have pummeled him. This would not be because of his I can't see statement, but for shamelessly bragging that he worked out. It was stupid. And he didn’t impress her at all if he was trying to. [Tokka]


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender

**  
Perception**

Sokka always thought he was at his most perceptive when he was bored.

Resting under the shade of a tree, he lazily watched Toph bark at Aang about his earth-bending skills and attempt to show her student the right way to earth-bend. He noticed that Aang would look vulnerable at some moments, and ticked off at others. It was usually the latter when Toph's bending created a cloud of dust right in front of him and made him violently cough. Katara, worried about Aang, eventually intervened and chastised Toph for yelling at him again. She suggested that they continue training the following day so Aang could rest. Toph folded her arms, turned her back towards them and wrinkled her nose.

"Whatever you say, Princess," she said, and recklessly earth-bended some more.

Eventually, Toph stopped earth-bending and leaned against another tree. She wiped her left eye for a prolonged time and Sokka sat up, eyes widened at the sight.

Was Toph...crying?

His keenness sure helped him notice what he observed. Sokka knew if Toph ever cried, it would never be blatantly in front of him, so this struck him as odd. He doubted that she was crying or upset about anything, but it could not hurt to wonder. Katara scolding her could have upset her, or the fact that she was training alone. It could have even been Aang's failure to get the earth-bending right that made her tear up. Sokka figured that would be the most likely choice.

Since Sokka couldn't help to wonder, he figured that there wasn't anything wrong with asking what was wrong with her.

When he was only a few feet from her, Toph asked him, "What do you want?"

Not to waste time, as Toph didn't like that, Sokka blurted out his question. "Are you crying? Not that there's anything wrong with you crying...it's just that it's YOU of all people. And last time I checked...you didn't cry...at least, I've never seen you do it—"

Toph cut him off. "I'm fine! I'm not crying, you dork," she removed her hand to prove her point and placed it back on again. "Something's just in my eye."

Sokka scratched his head. "Oh. Well, then why didn't you say so?"

Toph frowned, picking at her eye.

Sokka continued. "I know the feeling though. I hate having things stuck in my eye. Especially when I'm working out! It gets all watery and I can't see—" Sokka abruptly stopped his statement upon listening to it and cautiously looked at Toph, who was still furiously wiping her eye, harder than before.

Toph glowered even more. If she wasn't injured she would have pummeled him. This would not be because of his "I can't see" statement, but for shamelessly bragging that he worked out. It was stupid. And he didn't impress her at all if he was trying to.

Sokka cleared his throat to clear up the awkwardness and stepped forward to Toph.

"Here...let me see in your eye."

"Fine…" Toph shrugged. "...but just don't make it worse!"

"I won't." Sokka kneeled down in front of her and grabbed her hand, removing it from her eye. He never realized how small she was until he held her hand for that split second. It was it a little larger than half the size of his, and he wondered why someone so small could be so frightening at sometimes. Her injuries toward him always made him disregard her small size.

"It's probably dust," Sokka informed her. "Since you were just earth-bending a lot of it must have gotten in. I'll get a wet cloth to wipe your eye. Maybe you can hold it on or something…?"

Sokka quickly looked around and remembered it'd be hard to find a cloth where they were. He ripped off a piece of the end of his shirt and sought out some water. "I'll be right back," he told her.

"You better be," Toph told him. "My eye really stings."

Sokka came back from the nearest source of water (which was Katara, who was apprehensive until Sokka told her it was for Toph) soon enough and abruptly placed the wet cloth on Toph's eye. She took the cloth from him and held it herself.

"I usually don't get dust in my eye," Toph told him. "You know I rarely mess up when earth-bending."

"Right, because you're the greatest earth-bender in the world," Sokka sarcastically told her.

"I am," Toph told him taking notice of the sarcasm in his tone. "You want to see?"

"No! And you shouldn't so you don't hurt your other eye. I already sacrificed some of my shirt and some of my energy walking to get some water."

Toph suddenly imagined Sokka, whatever he looked like, with a ripped shirt, but even more torn than it probably already was. She liked the way he looked, but she quickly blocked the image from her mind.

Toph threw the cloth back at Sokka. "I'm fine now."

"You're welcome, Toph."

Toph ignored him. "I'm going to start earth-bending again. You can watch me if you want."

"No thanks," Sokka told her, "I'm going to sleep."

"Well fine then, Snoozles," she said with a twinge of annoyance.

Sokka walked back to his resting spot and closed his eyes. Toph began to earth-bend once again, but not as roughly as before. The sounds of crashing rocks were few and far between and not as ear-splitting as before.

Unintentionally, Sokka opened his eyes and scrutinized the small girl again. He knew she wasn't bending as loud because she thought he was asleep.

Toph smirked. She was blind, not dumb. She knew he wasn't asleep and she knew he was watching her.

Although she had slight butterflies in her stomach, this pleased her very much.


End file.
